The Five-Part Plan
In light of our recent organizational restructuring, I would like to propose that we discuss and vote on the fundamentals of the Worldsingers project while we are still at the early stages. As the shift in our division of labor showed, we require a sound, agreed upon system to avoid doing unnecessary work, foster cooperation, prevent internal conflict, and keep motivation up. The longer we put this off, the higher our chances of meeting hurdles down the road. So, I propose a five-step plan we can use to create a foundation in an orderly, democratic way. These steps are: 1) Define Purpose and Principles 2) Outcome Visioning 3) Brainstorming 4) Organizing and 5) Identify Next Actions Each step involves all of the project members working creatively together in an open discussion, with every member putting forth any new suggestions they might think of or voicing their opinions on the ideas of others. Anything that is “set in stone” is done so through public voting. One thing that should be noted is that all of these decisions are to be applied on a fundamental level. This is how we decide the very foundations of our project, and while it should be our aim to maintain flexibility to encourage creativity and accommodate as many authors as possible, a project of such a nature will be doomed to fall apart without a system of essential regulations in place. Define Purpose and Principles Before we begin our project, it helps to answer the question of “Why?” Why are we doing this? Of course, the answer should be evident to anyone, but the exact reasons might be different for different people. We must define our purposes. First of all, we want to have fun. For most of us, this is also another opportunity to apply and practice our creative skills, whether in worldbuilding or writing in general. Another reason is that we want to socialize in a creative environment. But there’s a more constructive purpose, too. We have as our goal to create an open world designed to facilitate creativity and free expression among the participants and to eventually accumulate a bigger audience and expand to the other areas of the board. Generally, the more specific a purpose we declare, the better it will be for us. This is all common sense, but I believe that it is important that we discuss and formalize the purposes of our project. There’s a myriad reasons for this: A clear purpose allows us to define success, even if it’s simply to have fun. It creates decision-making criteria we will use later when searching for answers to other fundamental questions. Having a purpose motivates and clarifies focus like nothing else, and, finally, it expands our options by giving us more room for creativity. The second thing that will lie at the foundations of our project will be the principles. These will arguably have a more direct effect on the members, as we will use them to create the guidelines and rules that will define our world. Everyone always has some principles, and a lot of the time, they expect that others will adhere to these principles as well. A breach of this “contract” invariably results in stress and conflict (as could have been seen several times already among some of the collaborators). It will help us greatly to clarify these principles among ourselves before we continue. A good way to find our principles is to complete the sentence: “I would give others totally free rein as long as they…” Note that at this point, we are determining project-wide questions, so these principles should concern the more “meta” levels of our project and avoid going too much into details of worldbuilding. Another thing to keep in mind is creative freedom of the other members. I understand that we are a stubborn bunch, but personal sacrifices are required in this sort of collaborative project. Some ideas for principles to discuss: Level of possible creative limits on each individual author, guidelines for encouraging others to contribute to already-created content (leaving things unsaid for others to finish), guidelines for the structure and tone of the world, and what to do with disruptive members. I suggest that everyone brings their own purposes and principles to the table for all to discuss and decide before making them more formal. No matter how elementary this step may seem, it is nonetheless crucial, and the sooner we finish it, the easier and more fun this project will become for us all. Outcome Visioning To facilitate better creativity and motivation, we should all agree on a vision of successful Worldsingers project. While it’s not likely that it’ll ever be finished in the traditional sense, it helps to envision an outcome that would make you say that the time and effort were well-spent. A lot of this comes from the purposes determined on the first step, but here we are asking the question of “What?” as opposed to “Why?” It will also help if each one of us determines what they would personally see a result that would qualify as an effort well spent. We won’t see how to do our project until we see ourselves doing it. It can range from a simple statement to a gloriously detailed explanation. There are a few things we can do to envision an outcome with clarity. First, view the project after the main body of work has been done. We have no release date to mind and no marketable product to create, so there really isn’t a way to “complete” Worldsingers. However, there is a point after which it can be considered “mature” when it is developed enough to provide content for future users and contributors. Now, imagine the best possible result of it. Leave the “Yeah, but…” for later. Capture the features, aspects, and qualities you imagined. Going by the greater purpose described in section one, Worldsingers can one day emerge as a world shared by the whole MLPchan board, with art, fiction, and roleplaying taking place in the setting. How would we accomplish this? How would such a world work? Alternatively, it’ll be most comfortable if the project stays a small collaborative effort made by a tight group of people doing it for fun. That’s worthy of envisioning, too. Brainstorming After we know what we want to do and why, it’s time to decide on how we are going to do it. Once again, we are talking about project-wide questions, applicable to all or most authors and entries. The brainstorming stage concerns finding both the questions and the answers to them. There’s a myriad of things that need to be discussed, and not only on the meta-level, but on the level of the aspects of the setting that will affect everything, such as the biggest geographical units (landmasses and oceans) and the history of the world (the objective creation myth, so to speak). The purpose of brainstorming is first and foremost to gather ideas. Putting things into writing and discussing them has the effect of promoting the further creation of new ideas. There’s three important things to remember during brainstorming. First, don’t judge, challenge, evaluate, or criticize. While some discussion is unavoidable and is actually probably preferred, a critical attitude can result in a shortening of creativity, and a creative approach is the center point of the brainstorming stage. And this would certainly not be the time for heated debates. This leads to the second point, quantity, not quality. This means that we should keep our thinking expansive. After all, you don’t know what a good idea is until you have it, or even later on. The more ideas we generate, the better context we’ll have for developing our options. And finally, put analysis and organization in the background. The left-brain should be given a free rein, but at this stage, it should not be the main driver. Keep whatever evaluations you make in mind for the time we get to weeding and organizing. While the most trivial matters can be resolved as they are brought up, it’s best if we leave the most important decisions for later. There won’t be enough information at this stage to determine such things, and some tasks may grow into full-fledged sub-projects later. Note down the problems and whatever solutions have been brought up, and move on to organizing them. Everyone should weigh in during brainstorming, putting down whatever thoughts and concerns they have. Again, we are only talking about the meta- and world-level issues right now. It’s best if this stage remains open even after we proceed to organizing everything that we’ve gathered. After all, something new can come up at any time. Organizing After most of the ideas have been written down, we’ll start to see a structure arising naturally. On this stage, we will create our project plan by identifying priorities, sequences, and relationships. What must we do to create a proper base for the world? In what order should we build it? How do we delegate this work? These and other questions are asked and answered at this stage. Brainstorming doesn’t actually stop here. Once a structure is identified, “blank spots” will become apparent, ready to be filled with further ideas. Everyone should contribute by asking questions and proposing solutions. This is where the democratic process really gets underway, provided that enough people participate. Next action Finally, once the organizational malarkey is done, debate over, and rubber-stamped, it’s time to begin creating. Now, the question becomes “What do we do next?” Once this question has a proper answer, the action stage can truly begin. The project will be properly planned when the next action has been decided on every front that can move forward without something else having to be completed first. In other words, everything that we can do right then and at that moment. These actions can then be distributed among the project members, with anyone taking whatever they want. Once those actions are completed, more actions become available from the queue or are identified based on the result of the completed action. This process continues, choosing points from the to-do list and doing them once they are available, until the project can be considered “finished” (or until whenver, in our case). Another advantage of conscious action planning is that we can clearly see when more planning is needed. In this case, we simply queue it up as a “planning” action and return to the discussions table. Well, that was probably a lot wordier than it should have been. If anyone has any questions, comments, criticisms, or propositions, feel free to voice your opinions. Post-Scriptum: Yes, I borrowed the system from a book. I’ll high-five anyone who knows which one. Post-Post Scriptum: This is why Twilight Sparkle is best pony.